Opposition MPs storm out of wiretapping discussion

Opposition lawmakers participating in a parliamentary committee tasked with investigating Greece’s wiretapping scandal walked out of a preparatory meeting on Thursday after disagreements over which witnesses will be summoned. The PASOK/KINAL, SYRIZA and MeRA25 MPs left the meeting after ruling New Democracy lawmakers rejected what the former considered “essential witnesses” in the probe.

The committee in which ND MPs have a majority will look into the wiretapping by the country’s secret service (EYP) of the phone of Nikos Androulakis, the leader of socialist PASOK/KINAL. It will also examine allegations that phones belonging to officials in Greece’s Communist Party were tapped in 2016, under the previous SYRIZA-led government. It will have at least a month to carry out the probe.

Leaving the meeting, PASOK rapporteur Evangelia Liagouli accused the ND majority of an attempted “cover-up.”